When we talk about education, what really comes to the mind of an average university student are the different classrooms and lecture halls where lecturers perform their statutory obligations by teaching and students acquire knowledge in return. The above view is succinct because that is what is obtainable here in Nigeria. But what do we really mean when we use the word “holistic”, applying the term to education. This should tell students that education shouldn’t be restricted to the classrooms alone.
Holistic simply means the completeness of a phenomenon rather than a part of it. Education in this sense, should be thorough and complete. Unfortunately, it is not so when the classroom is the only place a university student keeps visiting to acquire knowledge throughout his or her four or more years of stay in school.
There’s more to getting a holistic education than the classrooms alone. Learning in the university setting should go beyond theories to practical instances. For UNN to truly restore that dignity and climb the global rankings, it must shift from heavy theory to hands-on practice in it’s academic system.
As the Editor-in-chief, I am convinced that universities are judged globally by graduate employability and innovative output. Theory alone does not generate employments, patents, startups, or industry partnerships, practice does.
Echoing this sentiment, according to a report from TheCable Newspaper dated March 24, 2025, the deputy Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, urged the management of universities to shift from theoretical teachings to real-world impact and highlighted that universities have a critical role to play in driving national progress and contributing to global knowledge.
“Our universities were established as engines of progress. Today, however, we face problems highlighting a disconnect between academia and everyday life. These problems arise not from a lack of intellect but from misalignment with society’s needs, as teaching and learning have long been measured solely by academic metrics — the length of dissertations, the complexity of theories, and the splendour of research — rather than their real-world impact.
The challenge before us is clear: our universities must move beyond theory to practical impact, bringing the ‘gown’ into the ‘town’. Our research must offer tangible solutions, while graduates must be equipped to address real issues, from policy refinement to sustainable transportation. If the town does not feel the impact of our gown, our education is incomplete.
“Our universities are more than centres of learning; they are the backbone of our communities and nation. Their value lies not in certificates but in real-world impact. Institutions must go beyond academic debates, producing research that shapes policies proactively rather than reacting to crises. They should serve as policy hubs, not just locally but globally, proving that when education meets innovation, solutions follow.” Kalu said.
For UNN to achieve that holistic education in view, it must make a lot of reforms in it’s departments, faculties, institutes, and research centres.
The Center for Entrepreneurship Development and Research (CEDR) is a course offered by all students because of the very nature of the course which focuses on entrepreneurship. However, as a past student of the course, I can confidently say that it is heavily embedded in theory with students having to buy voluminous textbooks to use in filling the workbooks and reading for exams, that’s all!
There should be skill acquisition centres based on different skill-sets and its exams should shift from being computer-based to being a practical one where students who are able to generate practicable business ideas and startups passes the course.
Students in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences should fabricate solar inverters in Nsukka before studying Tesla in textbooks.
UNN’s Energy Research Centre can host live mini-grid projects where electrical students install, monitor, and maintain real power for campus hostels.
This justifies the projects African Center of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development (ACE-SPED) is embarking upon in the university community which includes carrying out impactful educational research development and training activities in five major thematic areas: electric power systems development; renewable energy, waste-to-energy and energy conservation; energy resources assessment and forecasting; sustainable energy materials; energy policy, regulation and management. This is an initiative that should extend to other faculties in school.
Agriculture students should contribute their quota in order to make sure that not just Nsukka but Enugu State becomes food sufficient. UNN sits on thousands of hectares of arable land. Every Agric student should manage a plot from soil testing to harvest to market. The Faculty Farm should become a commercial teaching enterprise, not just a demo site.
Moreso, Students in the Medicine and Health Sciences must expand their know-how in diagnosis, virology, dermatology, disease control and childcare through partnering with industry experts in some of the most prestigious medical centers in the state. The University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla must partner with medical professionals and firms in order to expand its simulation and experimental labs. Nursing and medical students need weekly hours with mannequins, rural outreach vans, and diagnostics, not only ward rounds in sixth years in school.
Mass Communication students should run a daily campus TV and radio station that serves Enugu State complete with advertising revenue and state-of-the-art facilities. As the media world rapidly goes digital, every student must be familiar with digital content writing, online/data journalism and multimedia. It should be made compulsory for students to create, own and manage a blog which will be used in scoring them based on their journalistic performances in those websites.
Theatre Arts students should stage monthly commercial shows, handling budgets, ticket sales and using platforms like YouTube to promote it’s local contents to the wider Nigerian movie industry. With this, talents could be picked from the departments to feature in big Nollywood blockbuster movies.
Students in History and International Studies and Archaeology and Tourism should be made to embark on compulsory excursions to different archaeological sites across the country including the United Nations World Heritage Sites and conduct ethnographic researches on the peculiarities of these sites. The research can even become thesis projects to final year students.
Students of Law, Political Science Public Administration, and Strategic Studies should also be made to periodically go on excursions in order to visit most of the nation’s foremost institutions including the National Assembly, Supreme Court, Defense Headquarters, and so on. With this, they can be tutored and equipped in knowledge and practice on the processes of governance, democracy, security and state power which they will need in their respective future crafts.
This can only be achieved with the school being intentional to developing and promoting practical learning across board, it won’t come from the blues.
Practical training also feeds research. The best papers come from labs and fields, not libraries alone. More prototypes and pilot studies mean more citations, more grants, and a rise in UNN’s global rating. In short, theory wins arguments, practice wins economies.
The University of Nigeria can make this dream a reality by starting to make significant reforms in its internal academic system.
The Record Newspaper recommends that, firstly, there should be a curriculum review which will mandate that 40 percent of grades in STEM and professional courses come from projects, fieldwork, and internships.
Also, the university should sign MOUs with the big industrial giants – Innoson, Seplat, Nigerian Breweries, and tech hubs in Enugu – to co-teach and co-assess her students based on their respective courseworks. Practicing Engineers from the industry should be the ones to grade final-year projects instead of professors who barely have an experience in practical engineering works.
In addition, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and alumni should equip garages, studios, and labs before building more lecture halls. One functional fabrication lab would lift more rankings than three auditoriums.
Lastly, the university should reward and promote lecturers who secure industry projects and patents, not only those who struggle to be the first to publish a hundred journal articles. Rewards and incentives should be based on impact of researches not on number of journals.
With these recommendations, the holistic education in question will be achieved in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
